Alabama Department of Archives and History

Official Symbols and Emblems of Alabama

Alabama Gemstone

Star Blue Quartz

(SiO2 , Silicon dioxide)

Star Blue Quartz is one of the most beautiful gemstones on earth, and the cheapest because there are so many.

Most quartz is a souvenir of volcanoes, which melt silica, which is then carried by water into crevices, where it crystallizes. Such quartz often includes traces of other minerals picked up by water flowing underground.

The Star Blue Quartz became the state gemstone in 1990 by Act no. 90-203.